What a weird review by sammythekid! First of all, this is NOT the 'only' version most ever saw. Most NEVER saw this version, including me, until 2023 March! Saw the movie after going to see a live theater production of Brigadoon when I was a child.. it was excellent live theater and stuck with me as an actress.

I watched this on TV with my parents when I was just 9 years old. It was a magical experience for my sister and me. My dad went out and bought the soundtrack at "our nearby Armstrong Dealer." And my sis and I listened to and learned all the songs by heart and can sing them all to this day.

I am now taking care of my 92 year old mom with severe disabilities due to a stroke. But we were able to watch and thoroughly enjoy this show again last night. We both had tears in our eyes as we sang along to the tunes.

Of course, the quality is lousy! But that is what TV looked like back then on teeny tiny TVs! As Reviewer: torgman noted in the reviews, it was " taped using RCA TK-41 cameras" which gives it the rounded corner effect. And Reviewer: quigs states it was recorded "on a VTR-a spool video tape recorder" (not just videoed in front of a TV screen!)

Also, it helps to keep in mind that this was a Broadway show that they video-taped on a screen-stage, and cut in scenes taped outside.

The story was taken from a book written by someone with a great imagination in their day, and their idea was transferred to a screenplay to be produced live on stage in a theater. As anyone who has been to the theater knows, it is hard to compare a play to a movie, so comparing this to the Gene Kelly movie is "apples to oranges."

This version is the brainchild of someone from the early 60's - with all that that time brings with it.

This is not a story about Scotland. It could take place anywhere, using any culture's iconic accents and costumes. It is just a story to be enjoyed.
I am mostly of Scottish descent and was not offended in anyway that "my (idea of my) culture" was being denigrated.

Wonderful that it was taped and that you have a copy of it Internet Archive!!

It's the operatic voices that spoiled it for me.
Nice to see Bob Goulet, wish he'd had a better career and not an early death.

Wow, what a find, only one broadcast ever; what a gem. Thank you so much for sharing this.

Too stagey though. And sorry, there's just something about the screen version that makes that one much more appealling cinematically. Sure Goulet is a better singer is than Kelly, (and in all actuality, Peter Falk more resembles Gene Kelly) but the whole movie just brought everything to life, the costumes, the settings, the cinematography. This mustve been grand seeing live, but in this, a televised broadcast, not so much.

This broadcast was what it was. To many, it was the only version ever watched. Many loved it, but it's overall reviews at the time were poorly received.

For those of Scottish descent, sorry! This is not an actual Scottish fable. It is, in fact, an old tale that originated from Germany by Friedrich Gerstäcker, later translated by Charles Brandon Schaeffer, about the mythical village of Germelshausen that fell under an magic curse. Because of Germany's poor image on the world stage at the time, it was felt that another country would be better accepted. At one point, it was to be set in Italy, but was shot down. Ireland was desired, but do to political differences, also shot down. Finally, the only acceptable setting was Scotland, for all that were involved in the staging of the fable. In the filming, Gene Kelly wanted to film entirely in Scotland. Although originally agreed upon, it would have been too costly a venture at the time. MGM pulled the plug on the overseas shoot, and filmed entirely on several different sound stages that dominated the MGM lot for many months. Parts of the sound stages were subsequently used in other MGM productions that were in process at the same time. And one of the sets from "Wizard Of Oz" was even reused for this production. The only thing I'm saying about that rumor, I've never seen a witch bother she sheep yet.

This wasn't so much a made-for-tv Movie, as it was a stage production of Brigadoon filmed on Television. It was a delightful story well told. The costuming was fantastic. It was also nice to see Peter Falk in another kind of role.

More than likely, the show itself was taped using RCA TK-41 cameras, a standard for color broadcasts at the time. The round lenses caused the dark distortions on the corner, but would've been unnoticeable, with rounded picture tubes being used on 60's TV's.

To the Scotish gentleman with forebears;
1. The broadcast of Brigadoon 1966 was only broadcast only once and never repeated in fact all recording by ABC were erased
2. The person who recorded it was on a VTR-a spool video tape recorder that usually holds one hour of recording.
3. It was shot in Southern Calafornia and not Scotland for one reason-MONEY. Location shooting is a challenge especially with the weather.
4. The production of the 1954 musical was shot entirely on a soundstage. Gene Kelly wanted to shoot in Scotland but laughed out of L.B. Mayer's office for "such a stupid and assenine idea"

If you are going to record a programme off the television, there are better ways of doing it than sticking a video camera in front of the screen without lining the picture up properly. I know that the programme has rarely been broadcasted but the quality of this recording was pretty awful.
As for Brigadoon itself, it was not helped by appalling Scottish(?) accents and landscapes that owe more to Southern California than the Trossachs. As a man with Scottish forebares, I was embarrassed by the whole story and had to force myself to watch it til the end in order to give a fair oppinion of the programme. I'm sorry to have wasted my time.

I am really not a fan of musicals, but I liked the story behind this one - so I watched it because I love Scotland. It was entertaining enough to watch the whole thing by fast-forwarding through what seemed like endless songs.

Bonus points for a few retro commercials that didn't get edited out of this TV movie.